Electric watch calendar setting mechanism



, A ril 16, I968 D. JQROGERSY 3,377,796

ELECTRIC WATCH CALENDAR SETTING MECHANISM Filed Mafch 11. 1966 INVENTORDONALD J. ROGERS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,377,796 ELECTRIC WATCHCALENDAR SETTING MECHANISM Donald J. Rogers, Lancaster, Pa., assignor toHamilton Watch Company, Lancaster, Pa., a corporation of PennsylvaniaFiled Mar. 11, 1966, Ser. No. 533,587 12 Claims. (Cl. 58-58) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE The timepiece provides for the manual adjustment of adate-bearing indicia member by means of a reciprocable rack. Thetimepiece incorporates a setting stern carrying a pinion movable intothree diiferent positions. In the normal or run position, the pinion ofthe setting stem is disengaged from the remainder of the works and thewatch runs in a normal manner. By moving the stem longitudinally into asecond position where the setting pinion engages a portion of the dialtrain, the stem may be manually rotated to set the hands of the watch ortimepiece. In the third position, the setting pinion engages the movablerack such that manual rotation of the setting stem in this thirdposition acts to move the rack and ultimately results in a stepwiseadvancement of the calendar ring to the next or subsequent followingdate. Provision is made for avoiding oversetting of the rack and forautomatically returning the rack to a proper neutral position forfurther advancement of the calendar ring in the event this is necessary.

This invention relates to a mechanical calendar or date rin-g settingmechanism for use in watches, clocks, and other timing devices havingdate indicating mechanisms. It is intended primarily for electric watchmovements having, or being adaptable to, a three-position setting stemwhere the additional stem position is for manual date setting.

There are many existing timepiece calendar systems in which the movementof a Watch or like timepiece is provided with a date bearing indiciamember which is operated in timed relation to the hour wheel of thetimepiece so as to indicate successive dates. In typical existingcalendar watch systems, the dial side of the movement is provided with acalendar ring or disc that is rotatably mounted below the dial and bears31 equally spaced numbers which are successively exposed through awindow in the dial as the disc is advanced of a revolution each 24 hoursby means interconnecting the calendar ring with the dial train of thewatch.

In existing calendar watch systems, the dial train is effectivelydisconnected from the calendar indicia ring or disc for about 21 hourswith the appropriate date number on the calendar ring being exposedthrough a window in the watch dial to indicate the date. In theremaining three hour period, the dial train is drivingly engaged withthe calendar ring, usually by a camping arrangement, so as to cause thecalendar ring to advance & of a revolution. The date ring is thusprogressively moved in the remaining three hour period, which is usuallyaround midnight, until the next date number is beneath theaforementioned dial window. That date number is exposed for the next 21hours and is thereafter replaced by the next successive number when thecalendar ring is again drivingly engaged with the dial train by theintermediate camming arrangement and thus displaced. Such existingcalendar watch systems are not completely desirable in that thedate'change takes place over a substantial period of time, i.e.approximately three hours, and for much of this time, the numerals arenot readily readable ice through the dial window. In addition, theyimpose a quite high load on the source of power driving the dial train,and this load is more than existing electrical watch systerns can bearwith a compact long-lived power source. Also due to the relatively highpower requirements of such prior watch calendar systems, they are aproblem with so-called automatic or self-winding spring driven watcheswhen they are not in a full wind state.

In order to overcome these and other disadvantages of priorconstructions, I disclose in my copending application Ser. No. 533,512,entitled, Watch Calendar Drive Mechanism and filed on even dateherewith, a novel calendar ring indexing mechanism which combines thefeatures of calendar ring drive and detenting in a single unitaryassembly which imposes a light load on the watch driving mechanism andfor this reason is particularly suited to electric watches and othertimepieces having a limited power source. The indexing mechanism of thatapplication is believed to be unique in that it combines all desirablecalendar features in one mechanism which does not require excessiveenergy as do other calendar mechanisms previously proposed. Thesedesirable features include instantaneous date change, accuracy andrepeatability in date change, accurate date positioning, calendar ringdetenting (holding and releasing) and rapid calendar ring setting, allfeatures being combined in a simple mechanism requiring little space andenergy.

However, as with most known calendar ring constructions, the mechanismof the aforesaid copending application requires some provision in thetimepiece for manually setting the calendar ring to the desired date.For example, if for some reason, the watch should stop running, itbecomes necessary upon re-initiation of watch operation to reset thecalendar ring so as to compensate for the elapsed time during which thewatch was stopped. In addition, calendar ring constructions usuallyincorporate an annular member or ring provided with date indicia in theform of 31 equally spaced numerals representative of the 31 days of thelongest months of the year. At the ends of those months which in facthave less than 31 days, it is necessary for the wearer of the timepieceto advance the calendar ring from the last day of the month (i.e. fromthe numeral 30 for the end of September) to the numeral 1 representativeof the first day of the following month. Thus, it is apparent that evenif the watch is continuously in proper operation, some provision must bemade in the calendar mechanism for manually adjusting the calendar dateat least at the end of certain months of the year.

The present invention is directed to a novel watch calendar settingmechanism which while adapted for use with all types of calendar ringdrives and indexing systems is particularly suited for use inconjunction with the calendar ring index mechanism disclosed in theaforesaid copending application. The setting mechanism of this inventionis of simple and reliable construction and makes it possible to set thecalendar ring completely independent of the position of the hands of thetimepiece. To this end, it is particularly adapted to mechanismsemploying a three-position setting stem wherein the setting stem of thetimepiece is longitudinally movable from a normal or watch runningposition to one of two remaining positions, namely a hand settingposition and a calendar ring setting position.

It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a new andimproved calendar setting mechanism for a timepiece.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a calendar ringsetting mechanism particularly suited for use in electric watches.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanismuseable in setting the calendar ring of a timepiece completelyindependent of the timepiece indicating hands.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel rack typesetting mechanism for rapidly, accurately, and reliably advancing acalendar ring, particularly at those times when it is necessary toadvance the calendar ring date at the end of a month having less than 31days.

In the present invention, the watch incorporates a setting stem carryinga pinion movable into three different positions. In the normal or runposition, the pinion of the setting stem is disengaged from theremainder of the works and the watch runs in a normal manner. By movingthe stem longitudinally into a second position where the setting pinionengages a portion of the dial train, the stem may be manually rotated toset the hands of the watch or timepiece. In the third position thesetting pinion engages a movable rack such that manual rotation of thesetting stem in this third position acts to move the rack and ultimatelyresult in a step-wise advancement of the calendar ring to the next orsubsequent following date. Provision is made for avoiding over-settingof the rack and for automatically returning the rack to a proper neutralposition for further advancement of the calendar ring in the event thisis necessary.

These and further objects and advantages of the invention will be moreapparent upon reference to the following specification, claims andappended drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partial plan view showing a portion of an electric watchmechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention with therack in its normal position;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view similar to that of FIGURE 1 showing the rackmoved into position for calendar ring indexing; and

FIGURE 3 is a vertical cross section through the setting mechanism ofFIGURES 1 and 2.

Refer-ring to the drawings, the numeral generally indicates a Watchwhich may be any presently commercially available watch having amovement of suitable design. For example, the movement may be that usedin the Model 505 Electric Watch of the Hamilton Watch Company,Lancaster, Pa., disclosed in Hamilton Service Bulletin #220, butmodified to incorporate the watch calendar system of this invention ashereinafter amplified.

The watch movement includes a pillar plate which is provided on its dialside with an annular peripheral ring having an internal shoulder forseating the lower exterior portion of an annular geared calendar ringillustrated in the drawings at 12. A dial train bridge is concentricallymounted on the dial side of the pillar plate and the circular edgeportions of the dial train bridge and annular shoulder on the peripheryof the pillar plate provide a track for the geared calendar ring 12whereby the calendar ring is rotatable about the axis of the centerWheel of the watch. For a more detailed discussion of the mounting forthe rotatable calendar ring 12 of this invention, reference may be hadto assignees copending application Ser. No. 227,160, filed Oct. 1, 1962,now Patent No. 3,420,006 which is incorporated herein by reference.

Calendar or date ring 12 is provided on its upper face 14 with 31equally spaced numerals 16 numbered successively from 1 to 31. The lowerinternal annular portion of the calendar ring 12 is provided with '31internal gear teeth 18 uniformly spaced around the entire periphery ofthe calendar ring by slots 20. The teeth are each provided with concavesurfaces 22 for a purpose more fu ly described below.

Longitudinally movable through the watch case is a setting stem 24 whichis rotated in a conventional manner to set the hands of the watch. Thissetting stem carries at its inner end a setting pinion 26 adapted to bemoved longitudinally to one of three diiferent positions, labeledpositions A, B and C, respectively, in the several figures of thedrawings. The A and C positions are illustrated in dashed lines, whilethe B position for the setting pinion 26 is illustrated in solid linesin FIGURE 3. Position A is the fully in position where the settingpinion rests during normal operation of the watch. Position B is anintermediate position where the setting pinion 26 engages with the teeth28 of a rack 30 for calendar ring setting and position C is the fullyout position where the setting pinion 26 engages with the contrate teeth32 of the minute wheel 34 forming a portion of the dial train or drivetrain for the Watch hands. The minute wheel is connected to theremainder of the dial train by the peripheral teeth 36.

Connected to the rack adjacent one end is a laterally projectingextension member 38 provided with a threaded aperture at 40 receivingthe lower end of a threaded screw 42. Rotatably mounted about anunthreaded portion of the screw 42 is a pawl assembly generallyindicated at 44 including a pawl 4-6 which carries an indexing pin 48adapted to be received in one of the slots 20 between the calendar ringteeth 18. PaWl 46 is lightly spring loaded in a counterclockwisedirection as viewed in FIG- URES 1 and 2 by a flat spring 50 and isrestricted from excessive counterclockwise rotation by a shoulder 52 ofthe pawl assembly 44.

Finally, the timepiece mechanism of the present invention is providedwith a circular detenting segment 54 adapted to closely engage theconcave surface 22 of one of the calendar ring teeth 18. Circularsegment 54 acts as a portion of the calendar ring drive as well as adetent element in a manner more fully shown and described in theaforementioned copending application filed on even date herewith. Thesegment is rotatably mounted on an arm 56 pivoted to a stationaryportion of the watch movement at 58 and which arm is spring biased so asto cause the segment 54 to engage the concave surface 22 by a detentbias spring 60.

In order to reset the calendar ring 12, such as would be the case at theend of a month having less than 31 days, the setting stem 24 is manuallypulled to its intermediate position so that the setting pinion 26assumes position B illustrated in the drawings where it meshes With theteeth of rack 30*. Upon rotation of the setting stem 24 in acounterclockwise direction (as viewed from the crown end) rack 30advances against the force of a spring 62. This spring is secured at oneend to the extension member 38 of the rack and at its other end isretained slidably between a pair of stationary pins 64 secured to astationary portion of the watch movement. Advancement of the rack fromthe normal position illustrated in FIGURE 1 to the setting positionillustrated in FIGURE 2 by manual rotation of the setting stem 24 causesthe pin 48 to slide past the calendar ring teeth 18 until it springsinto a tooth slot 20 due to the counterclockwise spring loading of thepawl spring 50 as illustrated in FIGURE 2.

At this stage, the counterclockwise setting stem rotation is stopped andthe setting s-t-em released. Spring 62 forces rack 30 to its originalFIGURE 1 position thereby causing pin 48 to drive calendar ring 12 in aclockwise direction. Should the setting stem 24 be rotated farther in acounterclockwise direction than is necessary for the pin 48 to fullyengage in the slot 20, this continued rotation does not continue toadvance the rack because the tooth portion of the rack ends at thispoint as illustrated in FIGURE 2. The geometry of travel of tooth slot20 and pin 48 is such that the pin disengages from the tooth slot 20after about of the desired index rotation of calendar ring 12, therebyallowing the detent or positioning segment 54 to engage the concavesurface of the next tooth to force the calendar ring the remaining Apart of the index rotation.

Spring 62 automatically returns and holds rack 30 in its normal FIGURE 1position such that the .pin 48 is not in engagement with the calendarring teeth 18 during normal operation of the movement when the settingpinion 26 is not in mesh with the rack. Thus, spring 62. prevents therack from interferring with the normal periodic calendar ring indexingsuch as is described in the afor mentioned copending application. Spring62 also returns rack 3% to its meshing FIGURE 1 position with thesetting pinion 26 in the event that the user attempts to index thecalendar ring through a clockwise stem rotation (as viewed from thecrown end).

It is apparent from the above that the present invention provides asimplified and reliable arrangement for accurately setting the dateindicating mechanism of a timepiece. Important features of the presentinvention include the provision of a three-position setting stem andsetting assembly wherein the calendar ring can be adjusted into a newposition independently of the watch hands. While useable in conjunctionwith all types of calendar drive systems, the setting mechanism of thepresent invention is particularly suited for use in conjunction with thecalendar drive and detent mechanism disclosed in copen-ding applicationSer. No. 533,512, filed on even date herewith, and makes possibleindependent calendar adjustment while maintaining proper synchronismbetween the calendar drive and the dial train of the watch. It isuseable in conjunction with the low load system of that inventionparticularly adapted to electric watch constructions wherein the powersupply in the form of a small compact battery is limited.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States LettersPatent is:

1. A calendar setting mechanism for a timepiece comprising dateindicating means and linear reciprocatable means, means for linearlymoving said reciprocatable means including a manually operable memberselectively engageable with said reciprocatable means, said dateindicating means being operatively connected to said reciproca-tablemeans and being stepped one date in response to linear movement of saidreciprocatable means without interference with the time indicated onsaid timepiece.

2. A calendar setting mechanism for a timepiece according to claim llwherein said manually operable memher is rotatably mounted, saidreciprocatable means being :linea-rly moved in one direction in responseto rotary movement of said member.

3. A calendar setting mechanism for a timepiece ac-' -cording to claim 1wherein said manually operable member linearly advances saidreciprocatable means in one direction, said moving means including meansbiasing said reciprocatable means for movement in the oppositedirection, said date indicating means being stepped in response to saidlatter movement.

4. A mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said date indicating meanscomprises a calendar ring having spaced slots, said reciprocatable meanscomprising a rack having an index pin adapted to engage in one of saidslots, a spring biasing said rack to a neutral position, a threeposition setting stem havin a pinion for engaging the teeth of saidrack, and detent means engaging said calendar ring.

:7. A mechanism according to claim 4 wherein said calendar ring has aplurality of spaced portions with a concave surface, and said detentcomprises a rotatable circular segment, and resilient means urging saidcircular segment against the concave surface of one of said calendarring portions.

6. A calendar setting mechanism for a timepiece comprising dateindicating means, and reciprocatable means engageable with :a manuallyoperable member for man ually stepping said date indicating means onedate without interference with the time indicated by said timepiece,said reciprocatable means comprises a rack carrying an indexing pin,said indexing pin being engageable with said date indicating means, saidrack being engageable with said manually operable member.

7. A mechanism according to claim 6 wherein said date indicating meanscomprises a calendar ring having spaced slots adapted to be engaged bysaid indexing pin.

8. A mechanism accondin to claim 7 including a rotatable setting stemhaving a pinion movable into engagement with the teeth of said hack.

9. A mechanism according to claim 8 wherein said stem is longitudinallymovable into three positions, namely a timepiece running position, acalendar ring setting position, and a watch hand setting position.

I'll. A mechanism according to claim 9 including spring means biasingsaid rack to a neutral position.

11. An electric watch comprising a calendar ring having date indiciathereon and a plurality of spaced slots, a reciprocatable rack having apawl assembly, an index pin carried by said pawl assembly and adapted toengage in one of said slots, spring means urging said rack to a neutralposition, and a rotatable setting stem carrying a pinion engageable withthe teeth of said rack, said setting .stem being longitudinally movableto a watch running position, a hand setting position and a calendar ringsetting position.

12. A watch according to claim Zlll including detent means resilientlybearing on said calendar ring.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1952 Marchand 58-58 6/1963Meyer 58-58

